The findings are reported in the April issue of the American Heart
Association publication Circulation.

Although it is not clear from the study if sleep apnea contributed to the
need for the pacemakers, the findings highlight the need for a greater
awareness of the potential association between the two conditions, study
co-author Patrick Levy MD, PhD, tells WebMD.

"We know that there is a relationship between sleep apnea and heart
arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythm)," Levy says. "The question is, 'If
we treat the sleep apnea will we reduce the need for pacemakers?' We don't
know, but we need to find out."

Obesity, Age Didn't Explain Link

Sleep apnea is characterized by repeated interruptions of breathing during
sleep, which leads to excessive daytime sleepiness and other health
problems.

Obesity and age are both major risk factors for heart disease and sleep apnea, but they did not
explain the excess of sleep breathing problems among the pacemaker recipients
in the study, Levy says.

The patients in the study who were found to have sleep apnea also had less
daytime sleepiness than is generally reported for the condition.

"There was no relationship with [sleep apnea] symptoms in this
population, which may explain why the disorder remains undiagnosed in so many
heart patients," Levy says.

He recommends that all heart patients who are candidates for pacemakers be
evaluated for sleep apnea before they have the devices implanted, and that
patients who have sleep apnea receive treatment for the condition.

In the absence of lifestyle changes, such as weight loss, continuous
positive airway pressure (CPAP) remains the most effective treatment for sleep
apnea. Patients wear a mask during sleep, which delivers pressurized air to the
lungs.

More Study Needed

Cardiologist Kenneth Ellenbogen, MD, tells WebMD that more study is needed
to back up this claim. But he agrees that heart patients who are candidates for
pacemakers should be evaluated for sleep apnea.

Ellenbogen is a professor of medicine at Virginia Commonwealth
University.

"Patients who need pacemakers usually have a variety of other
problems," he says. "A physician who puts a pacemaker in and tells the
patient to come back in six months is doing the patient a disservice."

Ellenbogen says identifying and treating sleep apnea may prove to be as
important in heart patients as identifying and treating high
blood pressure and diabetes.

"It is another co-morbid condition that we can actually treat, and treat
well," he says.